Tallapoosa River Electric Cooperative
Manager Louie Ward Co-Op Editor Kevin Hand ALABAMA LIVING is delivered to some 420,000 Alabama families and businesses, which are members of 22 not-for-profit, consumer-owned, locally directed and taxpaying electric cooperatives. AREA cooperative member subscriptions are $3 a year; non-member subscriptions, $6. Alabama Living (USPS 029920) is published monthly by the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Alabama, and at additional mailing office.
From bean to brew
Across the state, the business of roasting coffee beans and transforming them into fresh blends is perking right along. For your next cup of joe, try one from beans ground by Alabama’s small-town roasters .
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VOL. 70 NO. 5 n May 2017
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POSTMASTER send forms 3579 to: Alabama Living, P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, Alabama 36124-4014. ALABAMA RURAL ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION
AREA President Fred Braswell Editor Lenore Vickrey Managing Editor Allison Griffin Creative Director Mark Stephenson Art Director Danny Weston Advertising Director Jacob Johnson Graphic Designer/Ad Coordinator Brooke Echols Communications Coordinator Laura Stewart Graphic Designer Tori McClanahan
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NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE:
National Country Market 611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504 Austin, Texas 78704 1-800-626-1181 www.nationalcountrymarket.com www.alabamaliving.coop USPS 029-920 • ISSN 1047-0311
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”Snapshots” features some of our readers’ unique automobile tags.
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100 years of hot dogs
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Helping our heroes
A visit to the state’s capital isn’t complete without a stop downtown for one of Chris’ famous hot dogs, complete with its signature sauce.
Heroes on the Water takes veterans fishing in kayaks to help in their mental and physical healing process.
D E PA R T M E N T S
ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL OFFICES:
340 TechnaCenter Drive Montgomery, Alabama 36117-6031 1-800-410-2737 E-mail: advertising@areapower.com www.areapower.coop
Personalized tags
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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! ONLINE: www.alabamaliving.coop EMAIL: letters@alabamaliving.coop MAIL: Alabama Living 340 Technacenter Drive Montgomery, AL 36117
In this issue: Page 9 Page 24 Page 28 Page 29
9 Spotlight 26 Gardens 29 Around Alabama 40 Outdoors 41 Fish & Game Forecast 46 Cook of the Month 54 Hardy Jackson’s Alabama ONLINE: alabamaliving.coop ON THE COVER: Personalized and specialty automobile tags are becoming more popular with Alabamians, and the folks who sell them believe Alabama has more varieties of tags than other states. Read more in our cover story on Page 16.
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